Novo Nordisk’s market value of $570 billion is more than Denmark’s annual GDP—but Danish prime minister isn’t worried about a ‘Nokia risk’ from pharma giant

The success of Novo’s weight-loss treatments has transformed the drugmaker into Europe’s most valuable company and made it a key driver of domestic economic growth.

That’s triggered worries about the small nation’s reliance on the company, and that Denmark — if the drugmaker were to face serious challenges — could suffer like Finland did when Nokia Oyj slumped in the early part of the 2000s.

But Frederiksen rejected the notion of a so-called Nokia risk in relation to Novo, whose market value of about $570 billion is more than Denmark’s annual GDP. Instead, in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Copenhagen, she said that the economy has been strong for “quite a long time” thanks to skilled workers and a broad range of successful businesses.

“I am extremely proud that we have big, now global, companies coming from Denmark. I don’t see a lot of risks with even the size of some of the companies, because we have a very strong economy also in other sectors,” she said. “But we have of course to watch it.”

Novo Nordisk was for years a stalwart at home, but blockbuster diabetes treatment Ozempic and weight-loss substance Wegovy turbocharged its growth. The company is now undertaking several multi-billion-dollar factory expansions in Denmark, France and the US. 

That success is reflected in the Danish economy; last year, the pharmaceutical industry dominated by Novo drove about half of economic growth.

Still, the Danish economy is more than Novo and pharma. In 2023, the drug sector made up 6.7% of GDP, while financial services accounted for 5.4% and construction 5.1%, according to the national statistics office. 

Earlier this month, freight forwarder DSV A/S took a major step toward becoming one of the world’s biggest logistics firms when it bought a unit of Deutsche Bahn AG in a €14.3 billion ($16 billion) deal. Denmark is also home to brewer Carlsberg A/S, shipping company AP Moller-Maersk A/S, wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems A/S and toy maker Lego. 

“A good thing is that our export portfolio is spread across several areas that are less sensitive to the business cycle than in other places,” Frederiksen said. 

“Our country is not going to get any bigger” in physical size, she added. “But we should still want our companies to do that.”